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Ashley

Thursday, June 20, 2013

No News is Good News

For those of you who don't know (don't worry, I had no clue what a glucose test was until three days ago), I'm here to enlighten you.

First, you might be wondering WHY pregnant woman do a glucose test?

Well, they encourage most woman to test for gestational diabetes (which is easier to type than pronounce by the way) between 24 and 28 weeks of their pregnancy.

Normally, if you have gestational diabetes it won't show up until after 24 weeks. Also, most woman who get gestational diabetes don't have diabetes before pregnancy.

Everyone has a different experience, so I'll just tell you MY story. Some people have a tragic experience + hate the drink + dread this test. But I thought it was pretty easy + not very stressful (so relax, if this is creeping up for you).

To start, I thought I was going to PEE my pants when I got there, so thankfully they let me go back for my sample the moment I walked in the door. They usually take a urine sample at every visit to test your urine to make sure you don't have any infections + check your protein sugar + check for blood!

A few minutes later, I got called back to the lab. The guy offered me orange, fruit punch, or lemon lime flavored beverage.

"What's your favorite flavor?" I asked him.

Realizing that was a silly question, I quickly correct myself and said, "Which flavor do most woman like the best?"

He laughed and said, "Orange or fruit punch."

"I'll have lemon lime," I said, refusing to be like the rest. "What does that taste like?"

"A flat Sprite is how I describe it," he said.

"Sign me up!" I said with excitement. "That's the one!"

I cracked open the drink, which looked exactly like this (Thanks, Google):

You have about five minutes to drink the sweetened liquid, which contains 50g of glucose. Your body will absorb the glucose quickly. Over the next 30 to 60 minutes, your blood glucose levels rise. About an hour after you drink the glucose, they will draw your blood.

If you puke, you have to leave and come back another day. So puking is not a good idea.

By the time I was done with my visit, I had my blood drawn. The blood test will measure how the glucose solution was processed by my body.

"If you don't hear from us within 24 hours, that's a good sign," he said. "No news is good news. If you don't pass, you'll have to come back for a longer appointment. You'll have to drink 100-gram glucose drink during a three-hour period. If you don't pass either test then you're likely to have gestational diabetes."

And what happens if I get gestational diabetes?

Most woman with gestational diabetes will deliver healthy babies, but here is what WebMD told me:

"Sometimes a mother or her baby has problems because of high blood sugar. These problems include:

High blood pressure in the mother caused by preeclampsia.

A baby that grows too large. If a developing baby (fetus) receives too much sugar, the sugar can turn into fat, causing the baby to grow larger than normal. A large baby can be injured during vaginal birth and may need to be delivered surgically (C-section).

After the baby is born, the baby's blood sugar level may drop too low, and he or she may need to be given extra sugar.

Babies can also develop other treatable problems after birth, including low blood calcium levels, high bilirubin levels, and too many red blood cells."

How about that for a medical lesson today?

Hopefully you learned something new (or you can at least validate that I know what I'm talking about via research and my personal experience).

Anyway, the doctor's office didn't call me today!

Whoop there it is!

I think Cooper just gave me a giant fist bump to celebrate this good news.

I actually imagine Cooper looking like this adorable babes above. You too?